CHARLES LAWRENCE QUIST vs. AHMED DANAWI

The defendants/appellants entered into a lease agreement on 17 January 1977 with the plaintiff/respondent in respect of a plot of land, and also held an adjoining plot under a separate lease from E.C. Quist Therson. After litigation by the Osu Alata Mantse concerning the adjoining plot, the plaintiff wrote on 21 April 1992 alleging rent arrears and speculating that the defendants’ failure to pay rent stemmed from a belief that he was no longer their landlord. The letter asserted that if the defendants were disputing his title, they had breached a fundamental tenant obligation and the lease was forfeited. In reply, defendants’ counsel first suggested that, in light of the earlier judgment concerning the adjoining land, it would be unwise to pay rent to the plaintiff until the appeal was determined, but three days later sent another letter enclosing a cheque for ten years’ ground rent. The plaintiff retained the cheque for several months, later returned it, and eventually sued for ejectment on the basis that the lease had been forfeited by denial of title. Portion of judgment: opening narrative beginning “On 17/1/77 the defendants/appellants…” through the correspondence recounted up to the institution of the action.